The Babysitter Rivalry
by furryewokazon
Summary: "You're here all the time, I don't see why she insists on hugging you every damn time," Brittany complained quietly into Santana's ear. Sequel to 'The Babysitter'.
1. Corners

Santana rang the Pierce residence doorbell and waited for the tell-tale sound of scurrying feet rushing to be the first one to open the front door for her. More often than not it would just be Brittany greeting her with her unfailing enthusiasm but on those rare occasions when Brittany's little sister, Ashley gave her big sister the slip, Ashley would come tearing out the front door first to seal Santana's welcome with a tackling embrace.

Tonight was one of those times…

"Santana!" Ashley squealed excitedly as the door swung open and the young blonde girl leapt winningly into Santana's waiting arms for a warm hug.

"Okay," Brittany harrumphed over sensitively as she sidled into view only seconds later and helped her younger sister down from Santana's arms, "My turn."

Santana chuckled knowingly as Brittany stepped closer and wrapped her arms around her in a possessive embrace.

"You're here all the time, I don't see why she insists on hugging you _every damn time_," Brittany complained quietly into Santana's ear.

"Like you can talk," Santana jested playfully as she breathed Brittany in, returning her hug just as fiercely.

Santana pulled back from the embrace when she felt that it was just beginning to border on lasting too long to be played off as innocent in front of the youngster. She glanced at Ashley hesitantly and caught the end of the girl's eye-roll at the teenagers' graphic show of affection. The insight into Ashley's understanding made Santana grin and want to hug the little girl all over again; Ashley was obviously growing more aware of Brittany and Santana's closeness and was clearly not as oblivious as Brittany believed her to still be…

"Besides Aly is just happy to see me, aren't you Munchkin?" Santana commented with an affectionate ruffle to the little blonde's locks.

Ashley giggled at Santana's playful attention, half-heartedly swatting her hand away.

"And I'm not?" Brittany challenged with an obvious frown at their interaction.

"Maybe she just likes me more?" Ashley suggested simply with a shrug.

Brittany squawked a noise of outrage and grabbed at one of Santana's hands to hold on tight to her best friend, probably searching for reassurance against her sister's words.

Santana watched Ashley closely and noted the mischief in the girl's blue eyes. Ashley looked very pleased with herself and Santana recognised immediately that the youngster was purposely pushing her sister's buttons.

"Aww don't make me choose," Santana complained in a sing-song voice. "I love you both the same."

Santana sent Brittany a gentle smile as she gave the older blonde's hand a pointed squeeze hoping the gesture would subdue her insecurity for now. Santana flushed shyly with the emotional admission- still not completely used to sharing her raw feelings so openly even though she meant her words completely.

Brittany's cheeks turned pink and she started toeing her sock-covered foot on the floor and moved to bump her shoulder against Santana's knowingly. Unable to stop herself, she pressed a quick peck to Santana's warm cheek making Santana flush all the more.

Brittany sent Ashley a victorious smirk.

Ashley merely locked eyes with Brittany in challenge as she nuzzled up to Santana's hip taking her other hand in both of her smaller ones.

Santana couldn't contain her laughter at the Pierce girls' over the top show of tug-o-war over her and wrestled free of their affectionate touching to scamper away into the safety of the house.

It was the silliest thing; whenever the three of them spent any time together the Pierce sisters would inevitably end up fighting over Santana. Brittany had it stuck in her head that Ashley had developed a huge crush on Santana… and so whenever Santana humoured the younger girl it tended to make Brittany insanely jealous and in turn incredibly insecure that Santana actually preferred her sister's company over her own. Of course the idea was absurd since Ashley was as much a baby sister to Santana as she was to Brittany- since she could vividly remember the day the girl was born and had watched her grow up into the spunky ten year old she was today. And then of course there was the simple truth that Santana was already head over heels in love with Brittany…

But Santana would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy all the attention which the sisterly rivalry inspired.

Ashley was adorable as she worshipped the ground Santana walked on...

And Brittany would become even more doting than usual… sometimes even growing possessive as she tried to stake her claim on the brunette. Santana loved seeing that side of Brittany as it would often send chills through her entire being, reminding her that Brittany wanted her just as much as she did even though they weren't really _official _or anything yet.

Though lately it was becoming clearer to Santana that whatever power she once held over Ashley was beginning to fade only to be exchanged for genuine sisterly affection. It was a relief that she wouldn't have to break one Pierce heart in order to claim the other. Yet Ashley continued to taunt her big sister, playing into Brittany's insecurities and exaggerating the bond which she shared with Santana just to get a rise out of Brittany.

And so far it worked every time.

Santana decided to enjoy the _game_ while it lasted; she especially enjoyed the one on one time she and Brittany often shared _afterwards_, when she got the chance to vehemently assert where her true affections lied.

It was usually a win-win outcome for her after all; Brittany would either become incredibly sulky and could only be comforted by the sweetest of lady kisses… or Brittany would heatedly _take _Santana and remind her how well they fit together.

There was only that one time where the game completely backfired and resulted in Brittany kicking Santana out of bed and leaving her to sleep on the cold, hard floor with permission for Santana to marry her sister already, complete with well wishes for their long and happy future together…

Santana had learned from that night never to get too carried away enjoying the sibling rivalry and to keep a watchful eye on Brittany's limits so that she never reached such a boiling point of hopelessness again. Even Ashley had expressed genuine concern when it took Santana a whole day of silent treatment before she managed to coax Brittany around… of course it didn't stop Ashley from going at it again the very next day.

As her babysitter and role-model, Santana could really only blame herself for instilling such a competitive nature in the little blonde.


	2. Style

_Jody gently shook Brittany's shoulder trying to ever so carefully wake her little sister. On any other occasion she would have simply lifted the sleeping child and carried her across the short stretch of houses to their home down the street but she couldn't do that tonight… not when one of Brittany's arms had worked itself under little Santana's neck while she also clutched at Santana's hand with her free one. And besides it wasn't like Santana wasn't holding on to Brittany just as tightly… _

_They really looked adorable locked in their desperate embrace. Their hair was in each other's faces and their noses were pressed together where they shared a pillow. Jody mused that surely sharing someone else's space like couldn't have been very comfortable and yet they defied logic and slept on. Even their feet were intertwined and with their jumble of mismatched socks it was hard to tell which little foot belonged to whom. _

_Jody tried again, a little more insistently and Brittany's bright blue eyes blinked open._

_"Wha?" Brittany murmured sleepily through a yawn as she turned her head to look up at her sister. _

_"Shh," Jody whispered. "It's time to go home now…"_

_"But…" Brittany frowned as she looked back at her new best friend cuddled into her side. "What about Santana? Can she come too?"_

_Santana began to stir at the sound of her name and her arms tightened around Brittany on reflex causing Brittany to giggle._

_"Sanny you're squeezing me," Brittany remarked and tickled Santana's sides trying to make her loosen her hold. _

_Santana sleepily smiled at the sound of her friend's voice and squeezed her harder as she cuddled into Brittany's warmth not wanting to let her go. She tried to ignore the tickling but her laughter ended up erupting from her as an explosion against Brittany's neck and made Brittany start giggling all over again. _

_"Come on Britt, Santana's parents are home now and ours will be wondering where we are…" Jody's voice cut in impatiently; she'd had enough of playing chaperone to the two little girls for one evening- especially since they'd taken to closing themselves in Santana's bedroom and had ignored her for most of the night. Jody was starting to think that maybe introducing her sister to Santana hadn't been such a smart idea after all. _

_That information immediately caught the girls' attention as both of their heads snapped to look up at Jody with fearful expressions while they started clinging to each other like their lives depended on it. _

_Jody merely rolled her eyes and moved to pick up Brittany._

_"No!" Santana squealed as she grabbed Brittany tightly and heaved with all her might to roll Brittany over her and onto the other side of the bed away from Jody's snatching arms. "You can't take her away from me!" _

_Jody didn't know what to do; Santana was usually such an obedient little girl and now here she was yelling back at her defiantly. Jody hurriedly looked over her shoulder to Mrs Lopez who was hovering in the doorway. She desperately needed a parent's authority to set this matter straight. _

_"Now now, Santana," Mrs Lopez admonished assertively as she walked over to back up Jody. "Brittany has to go home now."_

_"But Mama… she's my best friend," Santana huffed at the injustice of what was happening. _

_"I'm sure you can play with Brittany another day," Mrs Lopez reminded her patiently. She was used to Santana's overdramatic tantrums. _

_"I don't wanna go," Brittany whispered shakily to Santana. "What if I never see you again?"_

_Santana chanced a look at Brittany only to see the blonde's sparkly eyes sparkling even more with unshed tears. _

_"Don't cry Brit-Brit," Santana said as her own lip began to tremble. She tried to wipe the spilling tears from Brittany's cheeks with her little palm but before long there were just too many as Brittany began sobbing hopelessly in her arms._

_Which of course only made Santana start crying too. _

_Mrs Lopez and Jody shared a tortured glance; as insolent as the girls were being by not doing as they were told, there was a genuine desperation there, pleading that they not be separated from one another. _

_Mrs Lopez sighed loudly as she leaned forward to put a reassuring hand on Jody's shoulder. _

_"You head on home dear, I'll call your mother and tell her Brittany is staying the night here," Mrs Lopez conceded patiently. _

_Jody spared a worried glance at her little sister who was now bordering on hysterical despair- completely unaware of their current conversation._

_"Are you sure?" Jody didn't want Brittany to be a burden on her employers after all- especially if she was going to carry on in this state…_

_"I don't think either of us could tear them apart from each other right now, even if we really wanted to…" Mrs Lopez admitted with an amused smirk. "And I for one happen to think it's rather nice seeing my little Santanita getting on so well with someone her own age for once."_

_Jody nodded in agreement- though she had to admit the blossoming friendship was much cuter when the two girls weren't crying their eyes out. _

_Silently Mrs Lopez ushered Jody out of the room leaving the girls alone to dry each other's tears._

* * *

><p>"So what's for dinner?" Santana asked as she walked into the Pierce kitchen with Brittany and Ashley hot on her heels. She opened the fridge to peer inside curiously only to see a number of disinteresting leftovers to which she pulled a face and slammed the door.<p>

Brittany spun past her, making a point to let her fingertips graze the skin of Santana's hip, earning a coy smile from Santana who followed her movements to the kitchen counter and pointed out the frozen lasagne that her mother had left out defrosting.

"Mom said we should just heat it up when we get hungry," Brittany muttered unenthusiastically.

Santana glanced at Ashley who was frowning in disappointment at the still frozen lasagne and she understood that the little blonde shared her sister's sentiments about their existing dinner plans.

"Put that back in the freezer Britts," Santana insisted as she reached into the neckline of her shirt and pulled a few bills from her bra. "Let's order pizza instead. Nothing but the best for my girls!"

Ashley cheered excitedly about the change of menu but Brittany was too busy flushing at Santana's claim of ownership to react properly- though her usual reaction to pizza was very true to her sister's.

"San," Brittany shook her head sensibly. "You shouldn't have to pay for our dinner…"

"Don't worry- it's Dad's money anyway," Santana pointed out with a shrug as she waved the money around. "Besides I have a plan which means we might get it for free anyway."

Brittany still didn't look convinced… even as her stomach began to rumble loudly.

Santana smiled as Brittany's body gave her away.

"Are you sure Britt?" Santana purred as she stepped closer to the tall blonde. "I was going to order you **pepperoni**… your favourite…"

Brittany began to blush as she remembered her recent pepperoni/ nipple mix up. She knew Santana was teasing but she also had to admit pepperoni pizza was her favourite and she was awfully hungry- having completely forgotten to eat that day.

"Please let me give you lots and lots of _pepperoni _Brittany," Santana pleaded playfully.

Brittany started giggling and Ashley joined in too at Santana's silly talk despite not understanding the cheeky innuendo that was going on.

"You can give me as much pepperoni as you want," Brittany replied flirtatiously though she couldn't stop her raucous giggling.

"I want pineapple!" Ashley chimed in excitedly.

Santana was reminded of where she was at Ashley's outburst and she snapped her eyes away from the naughty smile Brittany was sending her to look at the little blonde bouncing around the kitchen and freakishly reminding her of a little Brittany.

"Anything you want Ally," Santana reassured and was happy to see Brittany already moving to put the lasagne back in the freezer where it could be forgotten.

Santana picked up the nearby cordless and was about to dial the local pizza shop's number when she noticed that Brittany had returned from the freezer with a tub of ice-cream and was already on a mission to pry it open.

"Uh Britts?" Santana enquired with a perfect arch to her eyebrow.

"I could only find two spoons," Brittany mumbled around the spoon in her mouth as she slid the other across the countertop to her eager sister who'd had wide eyes locked on to the ice-cream as soon as it had appeared in Brittany's hands. "But don't worry you can share mine."

Santana very much doubted that the cutlery drawer Brittany was perched in front of wasn't full of spoons but she didn't question her about it, finding it rather adorable that Brittany wanted to share with her. But then there was the other pressing matter of Brittany opening a tub of ice-cream just as she was about to order them dinner…

"You're going to ruin your appetite," Santana warned knowingly as Brittany flicked the lid off and dragged her spoon across the surface gathering a large scoop.

Brittany rebelliously brought the heaped spoonful to her mouth with a dangerous glint in her eye. She then slid the tub across the counter to Ashley, tempting her to side against Santana.

Ashley looked at Santana hesitantly; Santana was her babysitter and usually whatever she says goes… but Brittany was her big sister and she was eating the ice-cream.

And Ashley really did love ice-cream.

"Dessert **after **dinner Ally," Santana reminded with unquestionable authority.

Ashley gulped audibly and actually looked a little terrified all of a sudden as she stared at the empty spoon clutched in her hand. All of a sudden she felt like a character in Brittany's cartoons- with a representation of a little angel and a little devil perched on either shoulder whispering their advice to her. She glanced at Santana and Brittany, not sure of which one was the angel and who was the devil.

"Watch out San… or you're going to start sounding like _Jody_," Brittany taunted in a sing-song voice. She grinned victoriously as she dropped her voice to a sly murmur, "Though you're probably happy about that."

Santana rolled her eyes and snatched the spoon Brittany was sucking on from her lips and pointedly used it to scoop a large ball of ice-cream which she proceeded to shove in her mouth.

"One mouthful Ashley," Santana permitted as she struggled to swallow her own.

Santana waited patiently as Ashley fed herself a scoop of ice-cream and then collected her spoon as she returned the tub to the freezer.

"We can still have as much ice-cream as we want after pizza," Santana announced with a pointed look at a grinning Brittany. "And that is not something which Jody would have ever allowed…"

"Are you talking about my sister, Jody?" Ashley asked with wide eyes as she struggled to follow the teens' curious banter.

"**Our** sister," Brittany pointed out territorially- simply because she couldn't stand by and just allow her sister to continue to take things that were rightfully _hers _away from her.

Santana was a little taken back by Brittany's gruff tone but let it slide as she answered Ashley properly.

"Didn't you know your sister Jody used to babysit Brittany and me when we were younger? Just as I babysit you _both _now…" Santana explained with a cheeky poke of her tongue at Brittany.

But Brittany didn't rise to the bait as she expected her to… and instead retaliated with the firepower she'd obviously been saving up since she brought up the whole 'Jody' subject.

"What Santana is not telling though is that she used to have a huge crush on Jody," Brittany informed her sister.

Santana wasn't sure whether she was supposed to scowl or blush.

"Really?" Ashley asked with wide incredulous eyes as she looked at Santana and started to giggle at this new information about her babysitter.

"Alright that's enough," Santana rushed to change the subject. She couldn't really deny Brittany's claims but that was a long time ago and she was practically a baby at the time… and if she remembered correctly her whole infatuation with Jody had ended rather quickly as soon as a Miss Brittany S. Pierce entered the picture. She really couldn't understand what Brittany was trying to achieve by telling Ashley about her former crush on the eldest Pierce girl.

"But Jody was a lot older than us at the time so it was all really quite _sad _for Santana to think she had a chance to be honest," Brittany continued on anyway ignoring Santana's suspicious look.

And then Brittany's tactical play became clearer as Santana realised Brittany's jibes were not intended for her after all… but for Ashley of course.

"Yeah that would be just like you having a crush on Santana, Ashley," Brittany delivered with a condescending chuckle. "That would just be... **_ridiculous_**."

Ashley crossed her arms defensively and glared at her big sister, clearly understanding the point her sister was trying to make and she didn't like it one bit. She didn't like when Brittany tried to tell her what to do.

Santana pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head at how obvious Brittany was being… and while she really wanted to rush to Ashley's aid and defend her somehow- without encouraging Ashley's potential crush on her of course- she could still hear the familiar insecurity in Brittany's voice which made her hold her tongue.

Keen for a distraction from the awkward tension filling the room, Santana realised she was still holding onto the cordless phone and hurriedly dialled the memorised phone number.

...


	3. Form

_When Brittany realised the pillow under their heads was growing wet with tears, Brittany wrinkled her nose and sat up. She looked around Santana's room and realised they were actually alone. _

_"Santana… they're gone," Brittany hiccupped as she wiped her cheeks. _

_Santana had stopped crying the moment Brittany pulled away and she lay very still as she watched Brittany with her worried shiny eyes. When Brittany's words finally registered Santana too sat up and looked around her empty room in surprise._

_"Then why are we still crying?" Santana's face broke into an amused grin at their silliness. _

_Brittany__ grinned back at her as she shrugged. _

_Both girls erupted into another fit of giggles as Brittany playfully tackled Santana back to the bed. But Santana frowned as Brittany pulled away again just as suddenly. _

_"Wait… did Jody just leave me here?" Brittany asked in confusion and more than a little hurt. "Don't they want me anymore?"_

_By 'they' Santana correctly assumed that Brittany meant her family and she squeezed Brittany's warm hands in her own._

_"I want you," Santana professed simply. "You can be in my family."_

* * *

><p>Santana covered the mouthpiece as she heard the connection start to ring through to the other end.<p>

"Are you ready? Just follow my lead," Santana instructed them both as she moved closer to Brittany and took her hand with a reassuring squeeze. "Trust me."

Brittany frowned in confusion, feeling nervous at Santana's sudden and mysterious reassurance. Santana was staring at her as though begging her to trust her but Brittany didn't understand where this was all coming from and she couldn't help starting to panic a little.

The moment someone answered on the other end, Santana's resolve snapped back to one of calculated manipulation as she turned up her usual attitude and honed in on her target.

"Hey Dougie, it's Santana Lopez," Santana purred playfully, "Have you heard the good news? Sam and I are back together!"

Santana watched as Brittany's face fell and she squeezed the blonde's hand once more, rubbing her thumb over it soothingly. With her eyes she tried her hardest to tell Brittany her words were all for pretending and not to let them get her down.

"Don't give me that suspicious tone; I know Sam moved out of town! I was the heartbroken girlfriend he left behind!" Santana scolded as though offended. "Details, details… what matters now is that we couldn't stand being apart and now that he's back we wants some of that ex-employee, complimentary pizza he's entitled to..."

Santana smiled as Brittany began to perk up finally beginning to understand where she was going with this ruse. Ashley began to giggle and had to smother the sound with her hands.

Brittany squeezed Santana's hand back and then released it, communicating that everything was okay and that she understood where this was all going now; free pizza of course!

"Yeah of course he's with me right now! He's just in the other room," Santana blatantly fibbed. "He asked me to call for him since his hands are tied right now. If I knew I was going to get interrogated for it I would have told him to do it himself!"

Santana rolled her eyes; this was proving harder that she thought.

"Yeah we're babysitting his little brother and sister together…" Santana's eyes slid from Brittany to see how Ashley was taking her scheming; she seemed amused and Santana's eyes lit up mischievously. She knew she should really feel guilty for leading the youngest Pierce astray and she made a mental note to remind Ashley not to tell her parents about this. "Actually his sister's right here… Say hi sweetie."

Santana held the phone out for Ashley to speak into as she winked encouragingly.

"I'm so hungry," Ashley adlibbed forlornly into the mouthpiece causing Santana's eyebrows to rise surprisingly impressed.

Santana bit back her laughter and pulled the phone back to her ear.

"You hear that Dougie, children are going hungry here. We needs a pineapple pizza and a pepperoni pizza stat."

Santana rattled off the Pierce's address with an air of triumph and then hung up the phone feeling pretty good about herself.

"Lying is naughty Santana," Brittany reminded her in a sing-song voice. The way she was looking at her though with flushed cheeks and sparkly eyes, Santana could tell that Brittany was impressed with her cunning plan and that her voicing of disapproval was merely for Ashley's benefit.

"Sam owes me," Santana dismissed awkwardly; well it was kind of true, she did write an awesome song about him after all.

"Is Sam really your boyfriend again Santana?" Ashley asked curiously, obviously not entirely sure how many of Santana's words were a complete farce.

"Uh no…" Santana erred as more of her lies were exposed. She suddenly felt weird talking about her ex in front of Brittany.

"Oh," Ashley frowned as though somewhat confused.

"Why do you ask?" Santana enquired at Ashley's curious reaction. If anything she would have thought the little blonde would be pleased to hear Santana was unattached.

"But Sam has long blonde hair right? And the other night didn't you tell me you were _so _in love with someone with long blonde hair?" Ashley pointed out as she tried to fit the pieces together.

Brittany's giggle caught Santana's attention and Santana flushed at being caught out in her secret gushing about Brittany -by Brittany herself.

"I thought that was our little secret, Ally," Santana reminded her through gritted teeth. It wasn't like Brittany didn't already know how she felt about her, but Santana didn't want Brittany knowing she had been being a big sap about it to her little sister.

"Whoops… I forgot," Ashley blushed and dropped her head in shame; Santana had specifically asked for her not to tell anyone.

"Tell me more about this mysterious blonde, Santana…" Brittany's eyes danced with amusement. "Do I know them?"

"Drop it Britt," Santana warned a little mortified at this turn of events.

"Quinn has long blonde hair," Ashley murmured with her eyes downcast, still trying to solve the mystery out loud.

Santana's face screwed up in disgust. _Her and Quinn? Gross._

"Quinn's got short hair now," Brittany pointed out a little too defensively. "And besides she's a girl…"

Santana's eyes darted to Brittany's completely taken back by what Brittany was playing at. Brittany's eyes were on Ashley however as she hesitantly bit at her lip. Santana realised Brittany was simply curious as to how her sister felt about two girls liking each other.

Ashley simply shrugged and both teenagers let out the breaths they didn't even realise they'd been holding.

"Well, **I **have long blonde hair…" Brittany suggested innocently.

Santana's eyes bugged out in panic.

Ashley looked up at Brittany suspiciously. Then her eyes moved to study Santana who refused to make eye contact with her. Her eyes moved back to Brittany who seemed a little too hopeful that she would agree with the bold suggestion of herself as Santana's love interest…

"Hahahahaaaaa, yeah right Britt," Ashley erupted into manic laughter. "You wish."

Brittany blushed a bright red and looked at Santana expectantly for back up, but Santana merely stuck her tongue back out at her in amusement.

Payback was definitely a bitch.

...


	4. Advantage

When Brittany opened her mouth and looked like she was about to inform Ashley of just how wrong her little sister was and with vivid detail, Santana jumped in hoping to change the subject before it had a chance to escalate out of control and end in tears.

"Okay bath time Ashley!"

Ashley pulled an unimpressed face.

"Aw man! Why am I the only one who needs to take a bath now?"

"Because Britt and I will take a shower later when you're asleep," Santana informed her as a matter of fact.

She didn't bother making a point of attempting to stress in front of Ashley that they would be taking separate showers because she honestly didn't think Ashley's mind would have leapt to any other conclusion. A furtive glance in Brittany's direction however, confirmed that Santana's attempts to direct the course of the conversation away from competitive territory had indeed succeeded; Brittany was looking at her with dark interested eyes clearly already looking forward to their shared shower later that evening.

"Bath now and by the time you're out the pizza will be here and we can watch a movie and it won't matter if you fall asleep on the couch because you'll already be ready for bed," Santana explained concisely. She had this babysitting routine down pat these days.

"I'm not going to fall asleep on the couch halfway through a movie like a little baby," Ashley huffed not at all impressed with the insinuation. But she was mostly just upset at being forced to take a bath.

"Santana and I only ever seem to get through half the movies we watch," Brittany admitted with a nonchalant shrug.

Santana looked at Brittany with an amused smirk. Of course what Brittany was neglecting to point out was the fact that they were usually just too busy fooling around by halfway through a movie and would lose interest in the story on screen once they started searching for their own _happy endings._

"Yeah and you guys fall asleep cuddling. Gross," Ashley teased in dramatic disgust.

"Alright, that's enough from you squirt," Santana chastised playfully as she gently pushed Ashley in the direction of her room. "I'll run you a bath so you just worry about finding some pyjamas."

"Alright, alright I'm going already," Ashley muttered mournfully.

Santana and Brittany both watched as Ashley rounded the corner and waited until they heard her stomping up the stairs before turning back to meet each other's matching gaze. They stared off for a good second before both were simultaneously closing the space between them to meet in the middle for a desperate kiss.

Santana had her hands in Brittany's hair trying to pull her closer as Brittany's arms wrapped securely around Santana's back. Their open mouths worked against each other as they licked and sucked and nipped urgently.

"Britt- we can't," Santana gasped out between frantic kisses. "Ashley will be… back… any second…"

Brittany ignored her and only started kissing her harder; making a point to lick the roof of Santana's mouth which she knew would drive the other girl crazy.

Santana moaned as her knees quickly turned to jelly and she forced herself to pull completely free of Brittany's hold to dart over to the other side of the room and remove herself from further temptation.

They stood staring at each other as they panted for breath.

Santana mused that she hoped the pizza wouldn't be late… because Brittany looked _hungry_.

"I have to run the bath," Santana murmured taking the easy 'out' to escape the room before she suddenly found herself standing naked in the Pierce's lounge room at Brittany's mercy- and with Ashley bound to reappear at any second.

Santana had managed to run just enough water when Brittany tugged Ashley into the bathroom. Santana shut off the faucet and ran an experimental hand through the bubbly water to check the temperature. Satisfied that it was perfect enough for a Pierce girl, Santana rose to stand by Brittany who was looking at Ashley expectantly.

"You guys aren't going to stay in here and watch me take a bath are you?" Ashley asked with a disgruntled frown.

Santana smiled sympathetically and shook her head as she moved to grab a fresh towel from the rack and placed it in easy reach from the tub.

"You're forgetting that we've seen that little butt of yours before, but no we're not going to watch," Santana informed her.

"But the door stays open, and you've got to sing, just like you do with Mom," Brittany instructed seriously. One time when she was younger, Brittany had fallen asleep in the bath and failed to answer her mother when called. Brittany still couldn't forget the terrified look on her mother's face when she came bursting into the bathroom fearing the worst…

Santana smiled warmly at Brittany; she personally thought that Ashley was of an age now where the threat of accidental drowning was unlikely… but it still warmed her heart to see Brittany taking her protective big sister role so seriously- especially when Ashley made it her daily personal vendetta to drive the older blonde insane.

Ashley rolled her eyes but nodded her acceptance of the familiar terms.

Santana smiled at Ashley once more and then curled her pinky finger around Brittany's to lead her out of the bathroom. Once clear of the doorway, Santana dropped Brittany's hand and sidestepped until her back was pressed against the wall to the side of the door frame. She smiled seductively and curled a finger in a beckoning gesture to Brittany.

Brittany smiled widely in surprise as her eyes lit up; she'd assumed that Santana's haste to end their needy kiss in the lounge room meant that she was off limits while they were in their babysitter roles.

Well apparently not.

Brittany slinked the short distance over to stand in front of Santana with palms planted up against the wall on either side of Santana's head so that she was effectively trapping her in place. After that suggestive invitation there was no way she was going to let Santana escape without getting more of their sweet lady kisses on.

Santana felt cornered and it sent a thrill through her body. She bit her lip as her eyes flickered from side to side taking in Brittany's dominating stance and she chastised herself for getting so excited at the gesture when she knew they still had to behave because they were supposed to be looking after Ashley who was not even a room away.

But staring back at Brittany who was watching her intensely, Santana couldn't deny that she wanted the blonde. She hadn't stopped wanting the blonde ever since she finally admitted her feelings to herself.

"I can't hear you," Brittany hollered loudly to Ashley without breaking her eye contact with Santana.

_"I'm not even in yet!" _

Ashley sounded peeved.

"Doesn't matter, I can't see you so I better be able to hear you," Brittany ordered impatiently. "And hurry up!"

Santana flushed heatedly at Brittany's no-nonsense commanding tone. That coupled with her already imposing stance was making Santana's pulse race.

_"I thought Santana was supposed to be in charge!"_

Brittany smirked knowingly at that remark as she arched an eyebrow at Santana.

Oh how wrong Ashley was…

"I er- I want to hear you too," Santana called out trying to sound as daunting as Brittany but her voice cracked tellingly in response to Brittany's overwhelming effect on her.

Ashley started singing softly in concession. They could hear her well enough since they weren't very far away despite not being able to make out all the words.

"Louder!" Brittany demanded just because she could.

Ashley responded by raising her voice much louder than was really necessary, almost yelling the words of 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' from Disney's The Lion King.

Santana giggled at the sisters' antics and slipped her arms around Brittany's neck to pull the blonde closer.

"And what do you want from me?" Santana whispered with a playful flutter of her eyelashes.

"**Everything**," Brittany answered without missing a beat as she pressed her lips gently against Santana's just as she moved to press the full length of her body up against the trapped girl.

Santana moaned against Brittany's face and Brittany took advantage of her open lips to tastefully explore the shorter girl's mouth with her tongue. This kiss was softer than the one earlier as the girls look their time teasing each other.

They both knew they couldn't really allow more than kissing which only meant their relaxed rhythm quickly grew too heated to contain and their gentle caresses turned to frustrated lip biting and deep probing licks.

Brittany groaned and spun them so that she was up against the wall with Santana slamming her back with a resounding thump.

_"What are you guys doing? You sound like you're wrestling…"_

"Are you still in the bath?" Brittany pulled her mouth from Santana's to ask Ashley in a slightly panicked voice. Santana was panting hotly against her neck which was proving incredibly distracting.

_"Yes."_

"Then why aren't you singing?" She posed back, carefully avoiding Ashley's curiosity.

Brittany waited until Ashley enthusiastically started singing her rendition of Aladdin's 'Prince Ali' before spinning Santana once more and sliding her thigh between Santana's legs.

Santana's eyes snapped open and Brittany just managed to cover her mouth in time to capture Santana's resounding moan. She was only wearing soft tracksuit pants so she could feel Brittany's muscular thigh pressing intimately against her centre.

"Britt- we shouldn't," Santana whimpered softly as she regretfully pulled her mouth from Brittany's.

Brittany's hands had found the curve of Santana's butt at some point and she now pulled her more insistently against her thigh.

Santana's hips bucked against her in response and Santana smashed their mouths together again so she could hide her vocal reaction.

Brittany smiled victoriously as Santana squeezed her shoulders and didn't try to stop her again as she started rubbing herself gently against Brittany's thigh. She ducked her head and started sucking on Santana's neck forcing Santana to bite into her shoulder to try and muffle the small moans escaping her throat.

_"Okay I'm done!"_

Ashley's loud call broke them both out of their daze and they darted away from each other feeling guilty about how quickly they'd lost control with Ashley only on the other side of the wall.

Their separation was just in time because Ashley stepped out through the doorway a mere moment later, wrapped in a fluffy towel and sent them both a suspicious look. They were both red in the face and standing with a comically wide distance between them.

"So who won?" Ashley asked curiously.

Santana and Brittany shared a panicked, confused look.

"You know- the wrestling. I know that's what you were doing," Ashley filled in like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Santana rushed in with relieved sigh and decided it was safer to just play along. "Busted- you got us. Well Brittany was putting up a pretty good fight when we had to call a tie. But I'm saving up a few moves of my own for our rematch later which I think will take her down."

Santana smirked suggestively at Brittany, not being able to resist her playful words.

"Why don't you have a rematch now? And then I can be the judge," Ashley suggested excitedly.

"No you can't!" Brittany shouted a little too forcefully making both Santana and Ashley jump.

Ashley glared at Brittany as though the older girl was trying to purposely keep her from having any fun.

"What Brittany means to say is that there is no time," Santana sent Brittany a scolding 'keep it cool' look. "You've got to get dressed and the pizza will be here any second."

Ashley's renewed hunger kept her from arguing and she darted down the hall to her bedroom to get dressed.

As soon as Ashley disappeared, Brittany advanced on Santana once more making her squeal and jump away.

"Nah ah!" Santana warned as she waved her finger at Brittany. "We almost got caught. No more of that until Ashley's gone to bed."

Brittany pouted which only earned her a firm shake of the head from Santana.

Santana was feeling it just as much as Brittany which made it hard for her to say no, but she did feel bad for acting so irresponsibly around Ashley. She had a job to do and she had to remember that. Once Ashley was tucked in bed and soundly asleep she would be able to let herself have as much fun as she wanted with Brittany.

...


	5. Clinch

_Santana awoke to her mother whispering gently at her side._

_"Girls, it's time to wake up," Mrs Lopez called as she smoothed the hair from Santana's face. "I made pancakes."_

_Santana frowned through a tired scrunch of her face because her mother was talking to her like there was more than one of her and Santana was certain she was only one person._

_But then she felt the touch of someone else on her other side as small fingers pulled at her nightie, bunching it up in squeezed fists. Santana blinked her eyes open, taking in the sight of her mother hovering over her before curiously turning her head._

_Memories of the day before flooded back to her as she recognised her babysitter's little sister and more importantly- her new best friend, cuddled into her side still fast asleep._

_"Brittany," Santana whispered with an amazed smile as she remembered._

_Brittany__ made a cute squeaky noise and cuddled closer to Santana as her hands squeezed tighter at Santana's sleep dress._

_Santana couldn't help laughing at Brittany's reaction as she was reminded of a sleeping cat holding on tight to her with its claws. But Brittany's claws weren't sharp at all; her fingers were soft and warm and Santana quite liked having them squeezed so close to her heart._

_Santana's hand moved to Brittany's closest pigtail-now loose and messy from sleep- and stroked it delicately._

_"Can we keep her, Mama?" Santana asked as the softest of whispers. "Can I keep her?"_

_Mrs Lopez was admittedly taken back by Santana's gentle tone and equally gentle request. Her daughter was not well known for asking for the things she wanted, but rather demanding them. It spoke volumes on how taken little Santana was with her new friend._

_However, it was still a funny request too._

_"I think Brittany has a family of her own that would miss her too much if we kept her," Mrs Lopez pointed out through a gentle chuckle._

_"But Jody left," Santana whispered even softer, as though trying to keep the harsh truth from Brittany's ears._

_"Only because I told her to, honey," Mrs Lopez explained patiently. "Brittany still has to go home after breakfast."_

_"But-" Santana's lip began to quiver at the thought of saying goodbye to Brittany._

_"Don't worry you'll see each other again," Mrs Lopez assured her. "Now that I know how well you two get along I'm sure I can arrange plenty of play dates with Brittany for you to look forward to. And besides she only lives down the street after all."_

_Santana's eyes lit up with that knowledge; Brittany and she were neighbours?_

_Maybe it really was possible that they could be friends forever…_

* * *

><p>Santana had scampered off to the kitchen to prepare drinks while Brittany had gone to set up the movie; having Brittany only comply to heading in opposite directions <strong>after<strong> Santana agreed to give her another kiss. The kiss was chaste and didn't lead to them nearly ripping each other's clothes off this time, but the knowing smirk Brittany sent her as she walked away told Santana that the blonde knew exactly the effect she was having on her.

Santana had to gulp down a cold glass of water to compensate for really needing to douse it over her head before pouring three glasses of soda- one a little smaller than the others for Ashley, but not in an obvious way. She was just on her way back to the family room, carefully carrying the drinks when the doorbell chimed loudly throughout the house.

**"I'll get it!"**

Brittany's call from the other room made Santana's swear because there was nowhere to put down the drinks and clearly Brittany had forgotten that she was not supposed to be answering the door in case it was the pizza delivery boy, since Santana was supposed to be spending the evening _with Sam_ and his siblings and not a dazzling blonde of the same age as herself as their ruse had been laid out.

"No, Britt!" Santana hissed after the blonde as she hurriedly detoured through the family room, placing the drinks on the coffee table before hurrying to the front door.

Brittany was already standing there looking panicked as she realised her mistake and could only stare back at the guy brandishing two big pizza boxes. Hearing Santana's approach, Brittany quickly glanced over her shoulder for help.

Santana recognised the pizza delivery boy as Dougie from on the phone earlier. She'd had plenty of interaction with him during that brief time she was "dating" Sam and had consequently reaped the benefits of being able to order free pizza because of him.

'_Shit!_' Santana cursed inwardly; Dougie had actually been kind of friends with Sam for some geeky reason or another, so it would be nearly impossible to dupe him now.

"I thought **you and Sam** were babysitting?" Dougie asked Santana questionably as he glanced Brittany's way.

"Oh Dougie, it's so nice to see you too!" Santana hammed on trying not to make it obvious that they'd clearly screwed up. "Surely you've met -err, Sam- _Samantha_. Sam's twin sister."

Brittany looked at her with wide startled eyes while Dougie looked at her incredulously.

"Samantha?" Dougie repeated doubtfully. "Twin sister?"

"Sure, Samantha this is Dougie," Santana formally introduced the two waving back and forth between Brittany and Dougie, "Dougie, Samantha."

"So you're Sam's twin sister…?" Dougie repeated suspiciously.

"Yeah and I've never made out with him before while playing spin the bottle because that would be weird," Brittany made sure to point out, even though she seemed particularly shy all of a sudden and kept looking at her feet.

Santana nearly choked on a laugh that threatened to burst at Brittany's seriousness when they were all saved from the resulting awkward silence by Ashley running up to the front door chanting, "Pizza, pizza, pizza!"

Santana took the welcome distraction as an opportunity to get the whole interaction back on track.

"Sam's upstairs helping their brother have a bath," Santana added in explanation of Sam's whereabouts, ingeniously remembering that Sam had a younger brother too. That Dougie would believe that Brittany was Sam's twin sister was a long shot, but maybe he would believe Sam just didn't talk about his twin that much if all the other pieces of her story fell into place.

"I bet he is," Dougie retorted sarcastically.

Santana had to resist the glare that wanted to twist her expression at Dougie's tone; unable to escape the impression that he was humouring her.

"So I'll just be taking our pizza now so we can get this one settled…" Santana patted a smiling Ashley on the head and then made a move to grab the pizza boxes from Dougie's hands only to frown when he pulled them back from her reach.

"That'll be twenty-two fifty," Dougie informed her.

Santana's jaw dropped in reflex but she quickly recovered and smiled as she feigned only mild confusion at the mix-up.

"Surely you're forgetting that Sam gets his pizza for free because he used to work for you?" Santana reminded him, laying on the sweetness despite her patience already wearing thin.

"Yes, **Sam** gets free pizza," Dougie agreed. And before Santana even had a chance to jump in and repeat her fake story of dating Sam again and the two of them babysitting together, Dougie was already continuing, "And I know Sam's not here because he updated his Facebook status ten minutes ago saying how boring Kentucky is tonight."

Santana opened her mouth to argue but realised she really had no explanation for that which would fit her story.

"And I know you two aren't dating again because the only girl Sam could talk about before he left was someone called Mercedes Jones," Dougie added and still didn't look like stopping…

Santana and Brittany shared a curious look over that new information, despite realising they'd been caught out trying to rip off the local pizza shop.

"And I for one happen to know that this is neither your house nor Sam's new house for the simple reason that I've personally delivered many pizzas to this very doorstep for one Lord Tubbington, care of a Brittany S. Pierce."

When Dougie said Brittany's name he looked straight at her, obviously already knowing who she was way before they tried to pass her off as Sam's sister.

Brittany blushed and looked nervously to Santana feeling guilty for ruining the fun.

Santana grimaced because they well and truly had been caught out and she could only grumble sullenly as she regrettably reached into her bra and pulled out the cash to hand it over.

"Have a lovely night, Santana," Dougie said with a victorious grin as he handed over the pizza.

As soon the pizzas were in her hand she slammed the door in Dougie's face as she cursed in Spanish under her breath.

"Sorry San," Brittany muttered apologetically. "Pepperoni is Lord Tubbington's favourite too."

Santana smiled gently as she leaned around the pizza boxes in hand to sneak a quick peck to Brittany's cheek as Ashley squealed in excitement and ran off towards the family room.

"You couldn't have known it'd be the same pizza boy and besides it's Daddy's money anyway," Santana shrugged as she gestured with her head that they should follow Ashley. "Come on _Samantha, _bring that long blonde hair of yours and let's go get our pepperoni on."

Brittany giggled as an excited smile took over her face. She hastened after Santana, spinning around her and swiping the pizza boxes from her hands so that Santana didn't have to carry them.

"I'd rather get on your _pepperoni_," Brittany called seductively over her shoulder as she led the way.

"Wanky," Santana replied slyly and followed her swinging hips into the other room.

...


	6. Opportunity

_**Author's Note:** Readers may pick up on a little shout out to monochromeheartbeat in this chapter because I'm just loving their story I'll Teach You To Dance lately. Check it out!_

* * *

><p>The girls ate their pizza in relative silence though they all kept erupting into laughter every time one of the Pierce sisters tried to impress Santana by competing to see who could make the longest cheese string, a game which inevitably ended with someone always having a saucy string of cheese hanging from their chin.<p>

Eventually their shared enthusiasm for melted cheese wore out as their stomachs filled up and one by one they collapsed back onto the couch, groaning dramatically at how full they now felt.

"I don't think I can even fit any ice-cream," Ashley admitted as she lay splayed back over one arm of the couch, not moving as she clutched at her stomach.

"Uh huh. I've got a food baby," Brittany moaned as she lifted her shirt and stared down at her stomach.

Santana's own stomach pains were immediately forgotten as she zoned in on Brittany's bare midriff and swallowed dryly; despite Brittany's words her stomach was still taut and toned in a way Santana only ever saw on people in magazines. Not being able to deny the temptation, Santana raised her hand as she curled into Brittany's side and playfully rubbed her belly- managing to feign her opportunistic touching as simply playing along.

"Aww," Santana cooed in the direction of Brittany perfect abs, "What are you going to call her?"

Brittany bit back a giggle at Santana's silliness; she loved it when Santana allowed herself to be silly.

"Sugar!" Brittany answered proudly.

Santana looked up in surprise at Brittany, noting the sparkle in her eyes that told her that Brittany was enjoying their game. It was an interesting name choice for a baby but she expected no less from Brittany.

"I think that's pretty… _sweet_," Santana answered cutely as she continued to rub Brittany's tummy.

Brittany's nose wrinkled in amusement at Santana's choice of words, knowing Santana was being adorable on purpose just for her.

"Sugary sweet," Brittany agreed enthusiastically.

Santana seemed to forget where she was for a moment as she got lost in Brittany's unbarred admiration and leaned in to get closer to her.

When Brittany seemed to realise how close Santana was getting she couldn't help blushing as she became acutely aware of Santana's warm palm on her stomach. Her muscles twitched tellingly under Santana's touch which suddenly felt much less innocent than when it started.

Santana smirked at Brittany's reaction and even started to lean forward to steal herself a kiss.

"Ah hem!" Ashley released a forced cough with the obvious intention to interrupt them.

Santana nearly jumped out of her skin as she snatched her hand back to her own body and hurriedly turned back towards Ashley. She couldn't believe she'd completely forgotten that Ashley was right there on the couch next to them. Brittany's influence over her was really getting out of control now.

Ashley was sending them both a disapproving frown; clearly unhappy about Santana's ignoring of her to lavish her attention on Brittany.

Brittany just smiled back at her winningly while Santana tried to avoid both of their gazes.

"Can we watch a movie now?" Ashley asked, trying to sounding bored though it was clear she was still not happy with the change of events that had just occurred.

"Sure!" Santana literally jumped at the opportunity to escape as she got to her feet and gathered up the pizza boxes and their empty glasses. "You guys get it started while I clear this mess up."

Santana hid in the kitchen a little longer than her task required in the hope that the sisters would sort out their differences in her absence. When she returned however Brittany was no longer seated on the opposite end of the couch from Ashley, instead she was perched on the other roomy lounge chair beside it.

Both sets of piercing blue eyes honed in on her when she re-entered the room and simultaneously both girls sat up a little bit straighter and started patting the spaces beside them in invitation to join them. Santana froze on the spot and immediately rolled her eyes not believing they were literally going to make her choose between them.

Santana's eyes flicked to Brittany's relaxed body language, feeling it calling to her in a way that Santana was really finding hard to ignore. She secretly loved the way Brittany sat sometimes- definitely **not** like a lady- it made her want to drape herself around the blonde and just be hers. It was hard to not imagine herself curled into Brittany's side in that vacant spot that Brittany was so suggestively reserving just for her.

But Santana knew she couldn't;

She'd already lost control too many times tonight because of Brittany and taking care of Ashley was supposed to be her main priority.

She knew what her choice had to be even if she was going to piss Brittany off by making it.

Santana took a deep breath and with a bowed head she casually walked towards Ashley's couch and returned to her earlier seat.

Brittany's disbelieving scoff was drowned out by Ashley's excited squeal as Santana seemed to be choosing her over Brittany.

Ashley immediately wiggled across the couch to get closer to Santana and threw her arms around her so she could cuddle into Santana's side.

Santana had to admit it was cute of Ashley but the gesture still made her nervous as she glanced back over at Brittany to see how she was taking it.

Brittany was no longer looking their way but her body language was now giving off serious defensive vibes as she pouted blankly at the television screen where the opening sequence of Disney's Tarzan was playing.

"I thought cuddling was gross," Santana reminded Ashley of her earlier sentiment.

"It's only gross when it's Brittany doing it," Ashley answered with a big cheesy smile as she nuzzled her cheek into Santana's side.

Another resounding scoff from Brittany's direction told Santana how Brittany felt about Ashley's comment.

Santana frowned in concern and subtly pulled her phone from her pocket so she could send Brittany a quick text.

**'I'm sorry x'**

Santana hit send and refused to take her eyes off Brittany, watching as she heard Brittany's phone vibrate and even closer still as the blonde instinctively pulled it out to check it.

Brittany's pout grew more pronounced as she read her phone and she huffed loudly. She even crossed her arms across her chest and slightly turned her back on Santana as she returned her attention to the movie.

So Santana tried again:

**'Britt Britt- there's plenty of room on this couch still. Come here. Please xx.'**

Santana continued to watch as Brittany checked her phone and proceeded to ignore her.

"This movie's great isn't it?" Ashley said smiling up at her with an enthusiasm for Disney that Santana was used to seeing in another set of sparkling blue eyes.

"Yeah," Santana sighed half-heartedly as she stroked a hand through Ashley's blonde hair. "Yeah it's great."

…

* * *

><p><em>When it was time for Brittany to go home after breakfast Santana insisted that her mother prove just how close Brittany actually lived by making them walk the distance. But apparently it was even closer than Santana's little mind could possibly comprehend because Mrs Lopez actually allowed Santana to escort Brittany home all on her own- as she watched from their front yard of course.<em>

_The girls were a little nervous as they took off down the sidewalk hand in hand with wide eyes. Santana was a little scared because once she passed her own fence all the houses lining the street looked the same to her. Brittany wasn't faring much better as her head whipped from side to side just trying to locate something familiar._

_Santana's own fears were forgotten as her concern grew for Brittany and she shuffled even closer to her new friend and squeezed her hand tight._

_"It's okay Britt, I'm here," Santana whispered putting on a brave face._

_"But I don't know which way my house is," Brittany admitted timidly._

_"Mama said it wasn't far," Santana shrugged. "As long as we stick together we'll find it."_

_Santana's words lifted Brittany's spirits and they even forgot to keep walking as they started smiling widely at each other._

**_"Santana!"_**

_They were reminded to keep moving at Mrs Lopez's chastising holler and the girls giggled as they quickened their pace once more and carried on their way down the street._

_"Look Santana look!" Brittany started jumping up and down as she pointed a little further ahead. "I see it, I see it!"_

_"Which one, which one?" Santana asked just as excitedly._

_Brittany__ tugged her along even faster until she came to a halt out the front of a big house with a blue door._

_"Santana, this is my house," Brittany introduced rather formally. "House this is Santana."_

_Santana giggled and then checked over her shoulder to look back the way they had come. She could still see her mother standing on the footpath with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently. Brittany really didn't live that far away at all. She made a mental note to count the number of houses in between on her way back. She hoped there wasn't more than ten because she could never remember what came after ten._

_"I guess I should go inside then…" Brittany said then, sounding far less enthused._

_Silence settled over them as they realised it was time to say goodbye._

_"Ooh ooh, do you want to come inside?" Brittany asked as though only just realising such a thing was possible._

_"I want to…" Santana insisted as she guiltily looked back at her mother and noted her now waving frantically for her to come home. "But I can't…"_

_"Yeah, I know," Brittany murmured as she wiggled her toes in her mismatched socks. She and Santana has purposely not swapped their exchanged socks back hoping it would guarantee that they would at least get to see each other one more time despite Mrs Lopez's reassurance that they could count on future play dates._

_Santana realised she was about to cry at the thought of having to leave Brittany and hurriedly threw her arms around Brittany's neck to hug her tight._

_"I'm gonna miss you," Brittany whispered emotionally into Santana's ear._

_"Well aren't you two just adorable."_

_The girls jumped apart to look towards Brittany's front door where Mrs Pierce had just emerged. She smiled down at the young girls and then glanced down the street to wave at Mrs Lopez watching from afar._

_Santana blushed shyly up at Mrs Pierce, remembering seeing her from time to time at Church; glad that she could finally put a face to the voice she sometimes spoke to on the phone when she called to speak to Jody._

_"So this is the famous Santana that I've heard so much about…" Mrs Pierce said as she walked closer to the pair. "You're such a good friend to make sure Brittany got home safely."_

_Santana beamed proudly up at Mrs Pierce and glanced at Brittany to see her smiling back at her, clearly ecstatic about the good impression Santana was making on her mother. _

_"It's so nice to know Brittany finally has a friend who isn't imaginary," Mrs Pierce teased playfully as she affectionately brushed Brittany's hair back from her face._

_"Jeremy is real!" Brittany insisted with bright red cheeks as she looked to Santana for reassurance, "Mom's just jealous 'cause she can't see him."_

_Santana smiled at Brittany, ready to believe anything Brittany told her._

_"Now Santana you best run home and ask your mother if you can come over for dinner tonight. I think it's about time the rest of us Pierce's got to know you a bit better," Mrs Pierce invited warmly._

_"Can she stay the night Mommy, please?" Brittany pleaded._

_Mrs Pierce chuckled at Brittany's enthusiasm._

_"If her mother says she can," Mrs Pierce conceded with an amused nod._

_Brittany and Santana started jumping up and down in excitement, squealing up at the clouds to share how exciting the prospect of another sleepover seemed._

_The thought of everything and anything seemed exciting as long as they knew they were going to do it together._

_They just had to stick together..._

_..._


	7. Cut

Santana couldn't concentrate on watching the movie and it wasn't even because she'd seen it countless times before… it was because Brittany was sitting across the room from her and not paying her any attention at all.

In fact Brittany was completely ignoring her.

Santana tried texting her again.

**'Britt?'**

And again.

** ':-('**

But Brittany didn't budge. She didn't even move to read Santana's messages even though Santana could see Brittany's phone lighting up and buzzing where it was perched on Brittany's knee.

Santana sighed and went back to watching the cartoon which she would have admitted to be one of her favourites on any other day. The Disney magic was certainly lacking even though she still had one Pierce girl on her hip… but it wasn't the same without _her_ Pierce girl by her side.

The loud chime of her own message alert going off almost made Santana jump out of her seat and she sent an apologetic smile Ashley's way at the girl's disgruntled noise for interrupting her viewing experience. Feeling satisfactorily chastised by the smaller girl, Santana sent an amused smile in Brittany's direction on reflex and was so distracted by the hint of an amused smirk evident on Brittany's lips that she almost forgot to actually read the message she'd just received.

Almost.

Santana sneakily checked her phone on the opposite side of her body to where Ashley was cuddling (as though fearing further reprimand from the small one) and frowned in confusion at what she read; it was a message from Brittany…

_'What are you wearing?'_

Meanwhile Brittany continued to stare at the television with a mischievous smirk curling her lips.

It only confused Santana more because Brittany clearly was up to something, but whatever she had planned didn't really make sense…

**'You can see what I'm wearing if you turn your head.'**

Santana quickly switched her phone to silent as soon as she's sent her reply and watched as Brittany received her message only to frown down at it.

Santana watched as Brittany frantically typed out her response.

It didn't take long before her phone was buzzing in her hand again.

Santana spared a quick glance over to Ashley and breathed a sigh of relief that the younger girl was unaware of the silent conversation the two teenagers were having when they were supposed to be concentrating on the movie.

_'Well I'm not wearing anything.'_

Santana snorted as she read Brittany's text and then raised an eyebrow over at her. The blonde wouldn't look at her of course. So she quickly wrote back.

**'No you're not. You're wearing shorts and my favourite hoody.'**

Brittany checked her phone and pouted in disappointment.

It didn't take long for her response.

_'OK… But I'm still really wet.'_

Santana spluttered a little as she felt her cheeks heating. Her eyes hesitantly flicked down to Ashley once again, feeling suddenly guilty about the message in her hand.

She knew it was wrong to encourage her almost-girlfriend when said almost-girlfriend's baby sister was in the same room and cuddled into her hip no less...

But Santana was only human after all.

**"Really?"**

_'So wet for you baby…'_

Santana squeaked a little and inwardly cursed at herself for how obvious she was being.

Ashley was going to know something was up.

Her phone buzzed again. And again.

_'I always get so wet for you.'_

_'You know my pussy loves you.'_

Santana dry-swallowed; She knew she was going to go to hell for encouraging this sort of behaviour when there was a minor in the room.

"Lord Tubbington really does love you Santana."

Ashley's young reassuring voice made Santana scream in surprise and instinctively throw her phone across the couch and far away from innocent eyes.

She hadn't even noticed Ashley had moved before the girl was peering over her lap and reading her latest text message.

Evidently she had still heard it going off over and over.

"W-what?" Santana stammered uncomfortably.

Brittany started giggling from across the room.

"Brittany's pussy," Ashley repeated with all the innocence of a child.

Brittany's giggles turned manic.

"Hush Britt, don't be mean just like your pussy is to everyone!" Ashley frowned over at her sister before turning her attention back to Santana, "I know Tubby can be mean Santana but I know he likes you, you don't have to worry."

"Haha, oh god," Santana looked at Brittany for help but Brittany just went on giggling to herself. "It's okay Ally-Brittany's **cat** and I get on just fine…"

Ashley looked like she wanted to keep on talking about it to make sure Santana really had no remaining doubts but Santana hurriedly pat at her lap again to encourage her to lie back down and continue watching the movie.

Santana's cheeks burned with every further vibration of her phone buzzing at the other end of the couch. She tried to ignore it but it was impossible to pretend that it wasn't going off and filling with further suggestive words that would drive her crazy.

Santana spared a glance over to Brittany who was staring at her with a perfectly playful smirk, daring her to check her phone.

Santana shook her head firmly.

Brittany raised her eyebrow in challenge.

'_No_,' Santana mouthed rebelliously.

Brittany tauntingly licked her lips at her.

_'Britt we can't!'_ Santana mouthed again and then motioned with her head down to the girl lying in her lap. _'Not now._'

Brittany watched the gesture and all the delight from her face dropped immediately as she released an annoyed huff and rolled her eyes.

Then before Santana even had time to react, Brittany was on her feet and storming out of the room.

"Britt wait-" Santana called after her but it was already too late.

The sound of Brittany stomping up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door told Santana she was definitely in the doghouse now.

"Uh oh," Ashley murmured in Santana's lap. "I think she's mad…"

Santana was still staring at the doorway through which Brittany had disappeared. She had only been trying to be mature about the situation... but it only left her feeling terrible for upsetting Brittany.

Ashley sat up and looked at her worriedly.

"Maybe you should go talk to her?"

That Ashley actually looked concerned for her big sister's wellbeing made Santana smile softly at her.

Santana nodded in agreement.

"You'll be okay on your own for a bit?" Santana double-checked.

Ashley nodded and turned her attention back to the television screen.

Standing up, Santana eyed her phone and debated reading the new messages on it but she decided against it knowing she would only get flustered when she really had to focus on getting back into Brittany's good books.

She knew there would be some serious grovelling involved.

Leaving her phone where it was she took a deep breath and headed out of the room in pursuit of Brittany.

* * *

><p><em>Santana was nervous.<em>

_She was going to have dinner at Brittany's house and meet all of Brittany's family!_

_Well technically she'd already met Jody and Brittany's mom… so that only left Brittany's dad._

_But still-_

_Santana had never felt so nervously excited in her whole young life. _

_This was so much more than what it used to feel like when she knew that Jody was babysitting. _

_So Santana was nervous…_

_"You ready Princess?" Mrs Lopez asked, poking her head into Santana's bedroom. "They're going to be expecting you."_

_Santana was standing in front of her full length mirror and insecurely patting down her overalls while she wondered if Brittany liked to wear overalls too. _

_She had second guessed this particular outfit so many times already but it was only because she wanted Brittany's family to like her so she could visit their house many more times in the future to see Brittany._

_She worried that overalls weren't anywhere near dressy enough to impress anyone. But they were practical… and she knew she and Brittany were going to play all sorts of games that night. She wanted to be comfortable. _

_"Mommy- do I look okay?" Santana asked unsurely._

_Mrs Lopez chucked and came to stand behind Santana, picking up the blue ribbons from the dresser to tie into Santana's hair for her. Santana had specifically requested the blue ones. _

_ "You look beautiful," Her mother guaranteed as her hands made fast work of tying a blue bow at the end of both of Santana's immaculate braids._

_Santana watched the blue bows taking shape in the mirrors reflection. She grinned because she knew the ribbons were the same blue as Brittany's eyes. _

_It felt nice knowing she was wearing a reminder of her new friend._

_Mrs Lopez finished tying off the second bow and then crouched to look Santana in the eye seriously-_

_"Now remember if you get scared or you want to come home you tell Brittany's Mom okay- no matter what time it is. Papa and I are only a few houses away and well come and get you straight away."_

_Santana blushed brightly in embarrassment; she'd only attempted to sleep over at someone else's house a couple of times before and both times she hadn't made it through the night. And to think that those attempts had been at her cousin's house where she was surrounded by people she knew and loved anyway. _

_It was embarrassing and made her feel like some kind of big baby. _

_But sleeping away from home was scary! _

_Santana's excitement for the night wavered at the impending scariness of staying the whole night away from home- away from her Mama and Papa. _

_Santana wasn't so sure she was ready anymore. _

_She stared at her bright blue ribbons and bit her lip._

_..._


	8. Favour

Santana knocked and knocked but Brittany refused to open her bedroom door. She couldn't believe that Brittany had actually locked her out.

And the worst part was that Brittany refused to even acknowledge her.

If Santana hadn't followed Brittany's angry stomping up the stairs and hadn't heard Brittany slam her bedroom door then she could have easily mistaken Brittany's room for being empty, judging by the silence she was receiving now.

"Brittany, please," Santana rapped on the door again, "Please open the door."

_Silence._

Santana pressed her forehead against the hard, wooden surface.

"Please?"

_More silence._

Santana waited a moment longer before giving up and trudging away in frustration. She was annoyed that Brittany was purposely ignoring her but mostly she just felt miserable that Brittany was upset with her.

Santana figured that Brittany was more _pissed off_ than upset- which was the lesser of two evils because she certainly didn't want to imagine Brittany curled up on her bed crying her eyes out because of her…

But being locked out; knowing Brittany was pissed at her didn't make Santana feel all that much better either.

Santana moodily plodded back downstairs, returning to care for her charge only to find Ashley curled up and fast asleep where she'd left her on the couch.

_Tarzan_ was still playing in the background.

Santana smiled fondly at the little girl, though the sight of the small blonde only reminded her of her blonde upstairs.

At that thought Santana's smile faltered- she'd always taken for granted that Brittany was hers and she was Brittany's- but they weren't even officially together yet and already she'd managed to sentence herself to a night spent in 'the doghouse'.

Santana had hoped that the heartache between them had been left back in the halls of McKinley with the promise of a new school year together as Seniors and possibly even _girlfriends_ to wipe the slate clean.

Shaking off her worry, Santana distracted herself with the task at hand as she quietly moved to turn off the movie and then attempted to bundle Ashley in her arms without waking her.

She winced when Ashley frowned as she was jostled; letting out a groan of disapproval at Santana's prodding hands. Yet Santana persevered carefully, all too aware that Brittany was usually the one to carry Ashley to bed now that she was getting bigger. It wasn't that Santana was particularly weak or anything- it was just that Brittany was always the one to volunteer her sturdy arms, often carrying a sleepy Santana herself to bed every now and again.

"Hush Ally Bear, San San's got you," Santana cooed the silly nicknames she wouldn't be caught using anywhere outside of the Pierce household, pointedly keeping herself focused on Ashley and **not** allowing her mind to wander to thoughts of Brittany carrying her which was undeniably the hugest of turn-ons.

Ashley grimaced a little more before finally settling peacefully into Santana's arms; it made Santana's task of carrying Ashley upstairs to her bed that little bit easier even if she did have to take a few rest stops along the way.

When Santana finally reached the top of the stairs she had worked up a minor sweat and her arms burned with the strain of carrying the full weight of the sleeping girl but somehow she found the strength to carry on, wearing a frown as she lumbered past Brittany's closed door and further down the hall to Ashley's bedroom.

Somehow she managed to flick the night light on with her elbow and pull Ashley's covers down with her toes before finally laying Ashley down in her bed as gently as possible. Ashley curled in on herself as soon as her head hit her soft pillow and Santana hastened to tuck her in, depositing a soft kiss on the girl's forehead.

Ashley's brow wrinkled and relaxed as Santana pulled away, the younger girl's blue eyes blinking open to sleepily peer up at Santana in confusion.

"Santana?" Ashley murmured unsurely, her sleepiness making her sound even younger.

"Hey it's okay, I'm here Munchkin, you go back to sleep," Santana reassured the girl, brushing her hair back out of her face.

"Is Britty okay?"

Santana smiled warmly down at Brittany's little sister; the girl made it her personal mission to be a complete nuisance towards her big sister in her every waking hour and yet on the brink of sleep her true adoration was shining through.

"She will be…" Santana answered carefully, not wanting Ashley to worry over the matter. She also thought it prudent to leave off the '_eventually_' knowing the hours ahead of grovelling were hers alone.

"You really love Britty don't you Santana?" Ashley asked boldly around a stubborn yawn.

Heat flooded Santana's cheeks at Ashley's easy use of the 'L' word and she fought off her knee-jerk reaction to deny everything.

She didn't have to do that anymore; especially not in her present company.

"C- course I do Ally," Santana stammered shyly, "I love all you Pierces – your Mama and Papa and Jody-"

Santana rolled her eyes at herself at the mention of Jody, remembering her childhood crush on Brittany's older sister and how at the time she had childishly confused that obsession for true love. It was only now in the wake of loving someone for real that she realised how very wrong she had been. It was easy to brush off her behaviour back then as silly because she had been so young… but the truth of the matter was that she hadn't been too young to notice the special little girl who was Brittany and make it her personal mission to keep her in her life at all costs.

"And you too Squirt," Santana delivered cutely, booping Ashley's nose.

Ashley frowned, catching Santana's hand and squeezing it meaningfully and Santana found herself being pulled to sit on the edge of the girl's bed to address her concerns properly.

"That's not what I meant," Ashley told her seriously.

Santana bit at the inside of her cheek to stall and cast her eyes to the open doorway when she thought she'd caught a flicker of movement, but returned them to a pouting Ashley when the hall proved to be as empty as before.

The little girl performed Brittany's signature pout expertly and Santana felt well chastised.

"Well Brittany does have long blonde hair…" Ashley went on prompting her.

And Santana knew by that hint that Ashley was asking Santana to confirm if Brittany was in fact the person with long blonde hair whom Santana had covertly claimed to be so very in love with.

And in that moment Santana found she didn't wish to hide the truth from Ashley any longer; not that she wanted to hurt Ashley's feelings either but she couldn't go on denying her love for Brittany now that she had finally accepted the truth and what it could mean for them and their future together.

And while coming clean to Ashley seemed a far less daunting task than telling her own parents, it was still a step in the right direction.

"You're right; I do love Brittany, very much," Santana gushed bravely. "I'm _in love_ with her."

Santana held her breathe as Ashley continued to stare suspiciously up at her- albeit still a little sleepily.

"Like fairy tale love?" Ashley enquired just to make sure they were talking on the same level.

Santana smiled shyly, not being able to recall any fairy tales where the princess falls in love with another princess and then goes on to live happily ever after, but she knew the love she felt for Brittany was big and scary and _perfect_; and had all the helpings of a love story like Ashley had never heard before.

"Just like fairy tale love."

A huge relieved smile broke out over Ashley's face at that admission.

"Good!" Ashley delivered resolutely, surprising Santana with the genuine delivery.

"_Good_…?" Santana had to query biting her lip.

Ashley was not reacting as expected.

Not that Santana had anything to complain about- one sulking Pierce girl was enough to worry about.

"Yes, **good**," Ashley repeated with a tired sigh as she rolled over onto her side to face away from Santana and released a giant yawn.

And yet Santana could still spy the hint of a satisfied smile dancing on Ashley's cheeks as she closed her eyes once more.

"Why 'good'?" Santana couldn't resist asking as she leaned down over the tired girl.

"_Duh_, 'cause Britt loves yo-" Ashley began only to trail off into another yawn;

Santana had to resist the urge to shake the girl awake and make her finish. She had a feeling she knew exactly where Ashley was going with her statement and the thrill of hearing it from someone so naive to the prejudices of the world filled her up; that a little girl could view her big sister's love for another girl as something magical like something from one of her storybooks gave Santana a little more hope to believe in.

Santana leaned closer to whisper in Ashley's ear;

"And they both lived happily ever after."

The sentimental moment was cut short when Santana heard the creak of a floorboard out in the hallway and she glanced back at the doorway in surprise, catching only a glimpse of a Brittany-shaped shadow as its owner retreated back down the hall with quiet careful steps.

Santana grinned and hurriedly followed the girl, trying to be equally as stealthy about it but only frowned when she crept out into the hallway and found that Brittany's bedroom door was once again closed to her.

With a disappointed sigh Santana stopped creeping and stomped up to Brittany's door ready to cause a fuss and give Brittany a peace of her mind. She knew Brittany had been eavesdropping and most likely caught all of her conversation with Ashley where she'd very openly admitted her love for the elder blonde so she didn't know what else Brittany expected from her.

Keeping in mind that Ashley was fast asleep not too far away Santana raised her hand to quietly rap away on Brittany's door and jumped a little in surprise when the door creaked open with the first brush of her knuckle.

* * *

><p><em>Santana nervously wrung her hands together as she stood in front of Brittany's big blue front door.<em>

_Her mother had just wrung the doorbell and almost instantly Santana heard the sound of scurrying on the other side until the door was swinging open to reveal a child covered from head to toe in mud. There was even a few twigs in their hair._

_Santana and Mrs Lopez both baulked at the sight of the dirty child._

_Then those startling blue eyes focused on Santana, followed by that big toothless grin and Santana realised she was grinning back just as widely._

_The dirty child was Brittany._

_And in that moment Santana was thankful she had chosen not to wear her Sunday best._

_"I've been making mud pies," Brittany divulged excitedly before suddenly becoming shy as she toed at the floor, "They're not as good as yours though."_

_Santana blushed brightly at the compliment, forgetting that her mother who should not know about the secret mud pie under her bed was listening in._

_"Do you want to come see?" Brittany invited, holding out her dirty little hand for Santana to take._

_Santana didn't even hesitate as she placed her hand in Brittany's and barely had time to wave back at her spooked-looking mother as she was pulled inside and deeper into the house. She heard Mrs Pierce who must have been standing nearby (not that a distracted Santana had noticed) chuckle after them and rush to assure her mother that she'd "make sure they have a bath before bedtime"._

_It ended up being the best play-date Santana had ever been on;_

_The two girls played in the mud for what Santana was sure had to have been hours before Mrs Pierce insisted they share a bath before dinner time… but not before being hosed down by Mr Pierce before re-entering the house. The girls had squealed and clutched at each other as they were sprayed with freezing cold water and it didn't take much further convincing for them to clamber upstairs with chattering teeth to climb into their warm bubble bath._

_Santana found it very entertaining that Brittany had to sing out loud whenever Mrs Pierce left them alone in the bathroom and once she realised her smile as she watched her new friend sing about living under the sea was making Brittany nervous, Santana did her best to follow the words and sing along. Brittany's singing only got louder and prouder once Santana started singing along with her._

_It wasn't until Brittany started trying to sing a new song about kissing a girl that she managed to get the words all muddled up and sent Santana a sheepish smile that caused the both of them to erupt into an endless fit of giggles that got them both evicted from the bathtub for not being able to sing any longer as per the rules._

_Dinner was spaghetti again as per Brittany's request, followed by the biggest serving of ice cream for dessert that Santana had ever been given. Santana was even offered lollies after that but she had to refuse, feeling like she was about to burst from eating so much._

_Jody once again found herself in their bad books, after she butted into their game of **House** and insisted that they couldn't both be 'the Mommy'; that one of them needed to be 'the Daddy'. Needless to say it was an unnecessary interruption to their perfectly good game and completely ruined the mood._

_Even so it was a very full afternoon and together their preparation for bed had been so much fun that Santana had completely forgotten her concerns about spending the night away from home… until she found herself tucked in Brittany's bed and staring up at the long shadows on the ceiling created by the light from the hallway and Brittany's duck night light._

_Brittany was already fast asleep on a mattress on the floor beside her in a makeshift bed that Mrs Pierce had made up for her so that Santana, as the guest, could comfortably sleep in the real bed._

_Santana had tried her hardest to fall asleep straight away as Brittany had- she was exhausted after all that playing and eating and more playing, but she couldn't stop thinking about those creepy shadows on the ceiling long enough to keep her eyes shut. She had to keep watching them to make sure they didn't move. If they moved then it was all the confirmation that she needed that there were in fact monsters in Brittany's room._

_She spared another hopeful glance at Brittany sleeping on the floor and ached to be closer to her. Santana wished they could have just slept in the same bed as they had last night- then Santana was sure that she would have felt safe enough to not have to worry about monsters._

_But it was far too late for that._

_Santana couldn't move now to be closer to Brittany because if she moved even an inch then the monsters would know she was awake and then they'd get her._

_So Santana could only lay there as still as she could as a frightened tear ran down her cheek._  
><em>…<em>


	9. Knockout

Santana pushed at the ajar door and slowly stepped into Brittany's lit bedroom as she mentally prepared herself for the confrontation that was potentially about to go down.

What she didn't expect however was for her to not be able to see Brittany anywhere within her bedroom.

Santana frowned in confusion as she considered the possibility that Brittany had finished eavesdropping on Ashley and herself and then fled downstairs rather than returning to her bedroom. It was possible; Santana hadn't actually seen Brittany return to her room. All Santana knew was that Brittany's door was now cracked open where it had earlier been locked shut.

It was common practice for them to make the most of the privacy their babysitting duties gave them, usually getting their sweet lady kisses on as soon as Ashley was tucked in for the night, right up until Brittany's parents returned home.

It was one of their '_things'_.

But Santana wasn't entirely sure that their usual antics were even a possibility again just yet; she hoped that Brittany had heard her public love declaration and that any earlier misgivings were forgiven already, but she couldn't really be sure until she saw Brittany's face smiling back at her.

That meant finding Brittany, wherever she could be hiding.

Their impromptu game of hide and seek was cut short when Santana turned to leave Brittany's clearly empty bedroom and she caught the faintest of smothered giggles.

Santana spun back around to eye the room suspiciously.

Brittany was evidently still in the room somewhere and seeing as there was only a limited number of hiding spots, Santana slowly moved towards the bed which happened to be the biggest obstacle in the room to hide behind.

As Santana moved closer it was clear her deductive rationalizing made complete sense; Brittany's feet appeared first, poking out from behind the bed as Santana edged around the thick mattress.

Except as Santana ended up standing over where Brittany lay on the floor, Santana realised that Brittany didn't seem to be hiding at all, in fact she appeared to be… sleeping.

_That_ and the fact that Brittany was lying on some makeshift bed on the floor, when a perfectly good double bed was right beside her, made Santana's frown deepen further.

Santana didn't know what Brittany could have been suggesting by purposely not climbing into her own bed- other than what seemed to be the obvious reason- that she didn't want to sleep with Santana.

Santana pouted sadly as she looked upon the rejection laid before her.

And then she saw it…

Brittany was trying not to smile.

The biggest grin tugged at the corners of Santana's lips when she realised that Brittany was only toying with her.

Relief flooded her body knowing Brittany must have surely overheard her with Ashley for her to have become so playful now, so Santana did what only made sense in such a situation and played along.

"Aww Britt Britt, you're asleep," Santana cooed in mock disappointment as she crouched down over the blonde and then after only a moment's hesitation, threw a leg over Brittany's hips and sat herself down astride the _'sleeping'_ girl. She leant down low over Brittany, to suggestively husk into her ear as she provocatively wiggled her hips:

"That's really such a shame… because I was really looking forward to… showing you… just how special… you are… to me"

When Brittany didn't bite at Santana's playful tone, Santana pulled away with a frown to study Brittany's face.

Brittany still appeared to be on the verge of bursting into laughter though she was clearly trying to appear unaffected.

So Santana tentatively leaned close and pressed a gentle kiss to Brittany's secret smirk.

When Brittany didn't even flinch, Santana pushed harder, moving her lip over Brittany's still ones trying to goad her into a kiss. She even tried licking at the line of Brittany's pressed lips but when that bartered absolutely no response Santana pulled back with a pout and a loud huff.

Only then with the audible proof of Santana's frustration did Santana see Brittany's lips twitch.

Santana squared her eyes on the girl beneath her as she sat up and tried to formulate a new plan of attack.

Wasting no time in being tactful Santana wiggled her fingers deviously before placing her open palms directly over the small perky mounds of Brittany's breasts.

Brittany's eyebrows arched up at that forward grope, though her eyes remained closed still feigning sleep.

Santana grinned down at Brittany's expression, an actual giggle escaping her throat when she just as suddenly removed her hands and watched as Brittany's face fell into an exaggerated frown.

So Santana tried again; her hands finding purchase over Brittany's breasts, squeezing them through the thick material of her hoody that Brittany was still wearing.

Brittany's eyebrows shot up once more in delight, approving of Santana's hands on her and Santana immediately clued in on the game they were playing.

Keeping her hands heavily pressed to Brittany's chest, Santana experimentally slid her hands down from their perch and watched in amusement as Brittany's brow began to furrow, only to slide her hand back up over her soft curves and watch as Brittany comically showed her approval.

Brittany was proving to be as adorable as ever and Santana couldn't help rewarding her as she kept her hands where they were, rubbing her palms firmly over the pliant flesh she could feel moving below the thick cotton. When Santana began to feel the evidence of Brittany's nipples pebbling hard under her palms, Santana focused entirely on them, thumbing them with enthusiasm.

When Santana realised she was starting to squirm where she sat, she understood she was getting a little too carried away with her breast play and immediately lifted her hands from Brittany's chest.

Brittany was not impressed by that move at all, judging by the pout that immediately twisted her features once more.

Feeling chided Santana returned her hands and earned the smallest of pleased nods from Brittany but didn't let the moment last as she slid her hands further down to Brittany's ribcage, feeling the rise and fall of Brittany's steady breathing.

Brittany's features twisted once more to show disapproval but as Santana's hands continued to slowly trail down Brittany's firm stomach, and Santana shuffled lower to seat herself upon Brittany's slightly spread thighs, Brittany seemed to catch on to where Santana's hands were headed instead and her eyebrows once again began their pointed, entertained arch.

One of Santana's perfectly manicured eyebrows rose higher in response to Brittany as her lips curled into a sneaky smirk and her hands got lower and lower until they were dancing low on Brittany's pelvis and playing idly with the waistband of Brittany's shorts- purposefully grazing the stripe of skin peeking between dishevelled clothing.

Brittany was no longer breathing as steadily as before as her stomach began to quiver under Santana's fingertips.

Then Santana slid her hands even lower and only diverted their path at the very last moment to teasingly rub down Brittany's thighs, dipping in to tease at the soft skin of her inner thighs, even pushing up the legs of Brittany's shorts to do so.

Then she stopped completely, keeping her hands frozen in place, nestled between Brittany's warm thighs and waited, watching Brittany closely.

Brittany's now grinning face didn't falter… until she realised Santana had halted her forward motion and her brow creased again in accusation.

Santana didn't bother trying to hide her amusement as she giggled and lay herself down on top of Brittany, cuddling into her neck and snickering.

She made a point to leave her hands exactly where they were.

And then she made a dramatic show of giving a forced yawn.

"Actually I'm pretty tired too, now that I think about it," Santana whispered into Brittany's ear.

"Don't even think about it."

Santana barely had time to register the husky tone to Brittany's warning before a strong arm was being wrapped around her shoulders and long fingers were cradling the back of her head as she was rolled onto her back with Brittany settling on top of her.

Santana pulled her face from Brittany's neck to look up into blue eyes. The same blue eyes that could still stop her in her tracks the same way they had the very first time she saw them.

Well maybe not in the exact same way;

Brittany's eyes, while still sparkling in mischief, now held that new darker shade that Santana had become intimately familiar with over the last couple of years.

Being on the receiving end of one of those looks could simultaneously make Santana's throat dry while also make other parts of her very, _very_ wet.

Santana swallowed dryly.

"Well?" Brittany proposed knowingly as she scratched at the back of Santana's scalp.

"Well, what?" Santana managed to rasp out.

"Well are you going to continue?"

Brittany raised a challenging eyebrow at Santana.

Brittany's tone made Santana feel like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar and she felt her cheeks heating at her hands being acknowledged as trapped in such a promiscuous position.

Although Brittany had only been pretending to be asleep Santana started questioning herself, feeling as though she had misread the signs and that it was now an awfully bold move of her to suddenly have put her hands in such close proximity to Brittany's crotch following their earlier misunderstanding.

"I uh… I thought you overheard me talking to Ashley?" Santana fumbled to explain her lewd behaviour.

Brittany continued to give her a judgemental stare, drawing out the unsure tension.

Then the corners of Brittany's eyes began to wrinkle and she couldn't hold back her barked laughter.

"Your face!" Brittany cackled in glee.

"Brittany! Don't **do** that!" Santana scolded as her cheeks heated further.

Brittany kept on laughing, pressing her face to Santana's hot neck.

Feeling completely embarrassed Santana decided to turn the tables on her prankster best friend knowing she certainly wasn't imagining the heat between Brittany's legs despite how distracted Brittany seemed by her amusement.

Santana turned her left hand where it was still pressed to Brittany's bare thigh and pressed the heel of her palm hard to the seam of her Brittany's shorts and rubbed generously.

Brittany's chuckle died in her throat, turning into a naughty giggle as she nosed at Santana's neck.

"So you **did** hear me talking to Ally?" Santana asked as she continued to suggestively palm between Brittany's legs.

Brittany gasped out a small moan that sounded a lot like _'uh huh'_ as she nodded and rolled her body against Santana's, spreading her legs a little wider in encouragement of Santana's caress.

"So you heard me tell her how in love with you I am?" Santana pressed on, making sure Brittany had heard _everything _just right, even if it did make her voice quiver with emotion.

Brittany lifted her head, answering Santana with a desperate kiss as she rocked her hips down harder against Santana's hand.

She pulled back to tell Santana she was 'so in love with her too' before slamming their lips back together and kissing her like she'd never have another chance.

All their teasing; all the back and forth, all the stop and go of the evening culminated in that feverish kiss until Santana's hand was pushing up Brittany's pant leg and forcing the crotch of her underwear aside so she could run her fingers through Brittany's apparent arousal.

Brittany groaned loudly at the intimate touch and began panting heavily against Santana's chin with ever stroke of her nimble fingers; sounds which of course only drove Santana to slide two of those fingers deep inside Brittany to see what other sounds she could draw out of the girl.

"Wait Santana, _no-_."

That '**no**' was like having a bucket of cold water thrown over her as Santana immediately withdrew her hand and frowned in worry up at Brittany.

Brittany was still whimpering at the loss when she realised her mistake and rushed to reassure Santana.

"_No_- yes to _that_, no to clothes," Brittany corrected as she hurriedly sat up and divested herself of her shirt and hoody in one go, leaving herself topless astride Santana who still hadn't quite got used to the fact that she was allowed to openly stare at Brittany's boobs now, when they were suddenly directly in her field of vision.

Santana didn't have much of a chance to lie back and enjoy the view before Brittany's hands were busily stripping her of her own clothes and before she realised what was happening the last of her clothing- her underwear **and** tracksuit pants- were urgently being tugged down her legs and thrown aside to be worried about later.

Then all it took was a quick shimmy from Brittany out of her own shorts and underwear and they were both as naked as the day they were born.

Then Brittany was crawling back over Santana to hover above her on hands and knees.

"Now where were we?" Brittany asked deviously as she licked her lips.

Santana lay there stunned as the girl she loved, in all her naked glory, invaded her personal space.

Brittany giggled at the open look of approval Santana was giving her until she spied Santana's left hand, fingers still wet with her arousal and the ache between her legs reminded her of what she was missing out on.

"Oh wait, now I remember," Brittany supplied innocently as she reached for Santana's hand and brought it to rest on her stomach.

Then with a bit of hands-on manipulation, Brittany returned Santana's hand back to where it had been interrupted, pressing two of Santana's fingers back inside her as she settled herself seated heavily on top of Santana's hand with an approving moan.

"_Oh_," Santana watched with wide eyes as Brittany seated herself atop her fingers and couldn't help the responsive wiggle she gave them when she once again found herself enveloped knuckle-deep in Brittany's silky heat.

Brittany smiled tenderly down at Santana.

"Show me San, make love to me," Brittany requested as she started to gently move her hips, riding Santana's fingers.

The look in Brittany's eyes was enough to snap Santana out of her daze as she closed her gaping mouth and nodded with determination, reaching up for Brittany to bring her back into a searing kiss.

* * *

><p><em>Santana didn't even realise Brittany was awake until she felt the bed move and she almost cried out in terror. <em>

"_Santana, why are you crying?"_

_Brittany had sleepily climbed up from her bed on the floor and crawled over to Santana to scrutinise her new best friend's face by the light of her night light. Sure enough her suspicions were confirmed when distinct tear tracks were able to be seen glistening in the dim light as they ran down Santana's puffy cheeks from where they had escaped her red, puffy eyes. _

"_Did you wet the bed? Sometimes I cry when I wet the bed because I don't mean to do it; it's just an accident. But I still feel like a baby when it happens. It's okay if you did… I won't think you're a baby, I promise," Brittany offered sympathetically in her own roundabout way. _

_Santana forgot her worries for a moment as she was relieved that __**wetting the bed**__ wasn't the reason she was upset because **that** would have surely been a terrible impression to make on her first proper sleepover._

_Not that crying because she was scared and wanted to go home was really much better. _

"_I didn't," Santana sniffed and shook her head. "M-monsters…"_

_Brittany's eyes went dramatically wider._

**"_Monsters wet the bed!?"_**

_Brittany's mistaken reaction was enough to elicit a small giggle from Santana who almost forgot her fear until she eyed the darkness of the room beyond the protective touch of the night light. _

"_No one wet the bed," Santana whispered as she continued to eye the darkness on the lookout for any movement that would confirm a monster infestation. "Quick, get under the covers; I think you have monsters in your room."_

_Brittany didn't need to be told twice as she scrambled under the covers beside Santana and took up watch, huddled beside her._

"_You actually saw one?" Brittany asked, surprising Santana by actually sounding more envious than frightened. _

"_You want to see one?" Santana asked amazed (but also nervous because hearing that proclamation from Brittany's mouth may just encourage the monsters to show themselves to them). _

_Brittany nodded excitedly before her face fell into a disappointed frown._

"_But my dad's a monster ex-terminator, and even though he must've got rid of his robot body a long time ago- cause he now gives the best soft hugs- he told me he scared off all the monsters in this house a long time ago, way before I was born and that they wouldn't ever come back cause they'd remember him as a terminator," Brittany babbled in explanation before giving another disappointed huff. "Which really sucks cause now I'll never get the chance to meet one."_

_Santana didn't know what a terminator was, but frankly she was relieved to hear that Brittany's father was no longer one because the idea of a robot sounded just as scary to her as a monster did. But then if what Brittany was telling her was true- which of course meant it absolutely had to be because Brittany was full of lots of interesting facts- then Santana didn't have to be worried about monsters __**or**__ robots. _

_As Santana was suddenly filled with relief she sent Brittany a thankful smile which very quickly turned into a yawn that Brittany returned automatically. _

_Now that the excitement of monsters and robots had passed, Santana was realising just how tired she really was. _

_It was then that Brittany's mother, Mrs Pierce decided to check on them as she poked her head in the open doorway._

"_Hey you two, I thought I heard voices," Mrs Pierce said gently as she walked into the room to sit on the edge of Brittany's bed. "What are you two doing awake?"_

"_Santana thought she saw a monster," Brittany offered in explanation._

"_Aw, but it couldn't have been a monster honey, Daddy exterminated all of them a long time ago, remember?" Mrs Pierce supplied easily as she gave Santana a warm smile. _

"_I know! That's what I was just telling her," Brittany nodded, wisely. _

_Santana nodded at Mrs Pierce too, so that everyone understood that Santana knew there was no longer any reason to be scared. _

_But Mrs Pierce only focused her attention on Santana more directly._

"_Santana, your mother told me that you might want to go home before morning. It's okay if you don't want to stay the rest of the night," Mrs Pierce reassured her. "I can take you home right now if you want?"_

_Brittany's worried gasp caught both Santana's and Mrs Pierce's attention and when Santana turned her head to look at her friend she found big blue eyes staring at her, pleading silently at her not to go._

_And as Santana stared back at Brittany she realised she didn't want to go home any more. There was nowhere else she wanted to be than tucked in Brittany's bed with Brittany right beside her. She felt safe there as long as Brittany was by her side._

"_I want to stay Mrs Pierce," Santana answered resolutely. _

"_Okay, well back to sleep then you two, it's very late," Mrs Pierce told them as she stood up and encouraged them to lie back down on their now shared pillow so she could expertly tuck them in._

"_Night Mama."_

"_Night Mrs Pierce."_

"_Night little ones, sweet dreams," Mrs Pierce blessed them as she kissed the both of them on their forehead and then left the room as quietly as she could. _

_Santana had just closed her eyes, finally ready to embrace sleep when she felt Brittany shift at her side and a little arm reached out to hug her. Santana instinctively answered Brittany by hugging her back. _

_Brittany gave a sleepy giggle as she shifted even closer getting comfortable._

"_You could never be a terminator, Santana, you're way too soft."_

* * *

><p>Brittany and Santana continued to kiss lazily as Santana came down from her second orgasm brought on by some insistent nudging from Brittany's strong thigh. They were still a confusing tangle of naked limbs with absolutely no intention of moving from the mess of bedding and clothes that were strewn over the floor beneath them.<p>

"I love you Santana Lopez," Brittany hummed as she barely pulled away from Santana's swollen lips.

"And I love you, Brittany S. Pierce," Santana dazedly replied as she licked her lips always ready to kiss Brittany at least one more time.

But of course their precious teenage privacy that gave them the freedom to express their love for one another was cut short at the abrupt sound of a garage door closing.

Santana's eyes widened in terror as she realised the very compromising sight she and Brittany would currently make to Brittany's parents who had evidently just returned home.

Gone were the monsters of her childhood; replaced with her new fears of rejection and disapproval from those people she loved the most.

"Britt- your parents! Our clothes!" Santana gasped in terror as she hurriedly untangled herself from Brittany and started scrambling around for her discarded clothing.

"San- San it's okay," Brittany sat up and managed to catch Santana's hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Let's just get into bed under the covers. It'll be okay, I promise."

Santana's heart was racing now and she looked to Brittany helplessly in her terror, giving a small conceding nod and allowed Brittany to pull her to the safety of her bed, climbing completely under the covers with her back to the ajar door while Brittany settled firmly behind her, reaching out to flick off the bedside lamp before cuddling closer and making sure the bed covers covered them both right up to their necks.

Brittany could feel Santana's terrified heart thundering in her chest as she pressed closer up against Santana's back.

"Brittany, the door-" Santana squeaked at the sound of footfall on the stairs.

"Shh, it's okay, they won't come in," Brittany hushed her, trying to get Santana to calm down. She held on to her tightly, knowing Santana was too terrified to run but hoping that her arms around her might make Santana feel less like she has to.

Brittany had already told her parents all about her love for Santana and about how in love they were with each other and while they'd been absolutely receptive to the news, Brittany had asked them to keep it a secret from Santana until Santana was able to tell them herself. Brittany didn't want to completely freak Santana out to the point that she was too afraid to come over any more. Brittany knew that Santana just needed more time to accept who she was, inside and out.

And then one day, maybe they could be together… out and proud for the entire world to see.

Brittany held Santana as they both lay in silence, listening to the muffled sound of her parents talking out in the hall as they checked on Ashley. She squeezed Santana tighter as the girl in her arms froze when Brittany's parents moved even closer to hover in Brittany's doorway- even pushing open the door enough to cast some of the hallway light over the bed and their unmistakable covered forms within it.

"They're asleep too," Mr Pierce whispered.

"Good night girls, we love you," Mrs Pierce chimed in as she closed the bedroom door quietly.

Santana breathed a huge sigh of relief as the room retuned to darkness and their secret was protected for another night.

"Sorry," Santana apologised regrettably for her panicked behaviour after a moment's silence.

Brittany only cuddled closer, kissing Santana's shoulder blade.

"S'okay, I still love you," Brittany smiled against Santana's back.

"Good," Santana breathed another huge sigh of relief which only made Brittany giggle that Santana allowed herself to get so worked up over such things.

They had been in love for a very long time, and not even Ashley with her insistent hogging of Santana's attention… or Jody with her never-ending taunts that Santana had _loved_ her first, could change that.

And sure, even Brittany was known to throw a tantrum whenever her sisters took their fun a little too far for her liking;

But every time without fail Santana continued to crawl back into Brittany's bed and into Brittany's arms to make everything better again; and Brittany was reminded that it was because that was where Santana felt safest.

That Brittany was the only one who Santana felt safest to share her biggest secret with told Brittany exactly how important she was to Santana. And she was more than happy to protect that secret for as long as Santana needed.

That Santana had admitted their love to Ashley earlier in the night had already been a huge step for Santana and Brittany was so proud of her for it.

"Britt?"

"Yeah, San?"

"What do _you_ think would happen if there was ever was a fairy tale about a princess who fell in love with another princess…?" Santana asked curiously.

And by that Brittany knew what Santana was really asking without actually having to ask;

She was asking what the future could hold for them.

"Well does the other princess love the first princess back?" Brittany asked very seriously. She knew Santana was blushing without even having to see her.

"Yeah, she does," Santana whispered as though still a bit in awe at the entire idea and not quite able to believe it herself.

Brittany could practically hear Santana's shy smile.

"Then… they'd live happily ever after of course," Brittany delivered right on point.

"_Yeah?_" Santana gushed, grinning as she rolled over in Brittany's arms to face her.

"**Totally**. And then after the birth of their daughter, Princess Sugar, they'd ride off on a unicorn and-"

"_Wanky,_" Santana butted-in, true to form, interrupting Brittany's animated spiel.

"_San-tan-a_," Brittany whined playfully. "This story doesn't have a wanky ending…"

Santana giggled and wriggled even closer.

"Why not?" Santana teased, "You did say they had a happy ending… and a wanky ending is a happy ending."

Santana waggled her eyebrows at Brittany in the dark as she wrapped her arms around Brittany's back and slid her thigh into the warm space between Brittany's own.

Brittany smiled at Santana's overt show of seduction which she knew was all for show because she knew for a fact that Santana was completely spent following their earlier lovemaking; Santana had actually resorted to begging Brittany to stop because she couldn't take any more.

"But I don't think these princesses are anywhere near their ending, though…" Brittany informed her meaningfully.

Santana's eyes widened at that, forgetting the double entendre behind their playful words and remembering the reason why she'd pursued that fanciful line of questioning in the first place. Brittany always spoke with so much hope and promise for their future together that Santana couldn't help being swept away by the idea of it all.

She hoped that Brittany could see the same unadulterated love and adoration shining in her eyes as Santana could see in hers.

"They're on the right track though, right?" Santana asked tentatively.

Brittany giggled at how unsure Santana still sounded; they were naked and wrapped impossibly close around each other…

She was quite certain they were **definitely** on the right track.

But then Brittany realised how vulnerable Santana had become again; still needing the reassurance that only Brittany's words could give her.

"_Santana_," Brittany began carefully, wanting to make sure Santana would _really_ listen to her, even though she could already tell the girl would be hanging on her every word. "If you and I were the princesses in that story, I'd know that we'd already taken lots of twists and turns that didn't always feel like we were headed in the right direction, but that we must have been all along because we still ended up right here…"

Santana nodded slowly, taking encouragement and reassurance from Brittany's innocent beliefs.

"And no doubt there are still lots of confusing twists and turns to come…" Brittany continued wisely, making Santana bite her lip in worry. "But we're on the right track, and we'll have our happy ending one day. I believe it and you should too."

Santana was silent as she stared back at Brittany, looking awfully emotional and Brittany was a little worried Santana was about to cry.

"Our happy- _wanky_- ending?" Santana's voice squeaked a little with emotion, trying to make light of how incredibly sappy their pillow talk had suddenly become.

Brittany burst into laughter and tucked Santana into her neck so she could give her a fierce hug.

"Wankily ever after."

* * *

><p><em>Cue Season 3…<em>

_But not Season 4..._

_Or Season 5 for that matter…_

_Unless the writers have some major Brittana retcon up their sleeves._


End file.
